Bonded not Busted

Our last night on the road was a very special family night for me.  We spent some time over and after dinner reflecting on the last 8 weeks on the road.  Taking it in turns to share our favourite places, favourite or most memorable days, the places we would most like to visit again and the place we would least like to visit again.  It was important to me to hear the children's perspectives on these and their reasons why.

We were all united that our most favourite place was Monkey Mia.  The children both agreed that they liked it the best because they didn't have to get in the car for 3 days!!!  Jade and I also both agreed that the one on one time we spent together waiting and feeding the dolphins was very special time (it also came out during the course of the conversation that it was a good way of getting out of doing the breakfast dishes and making the beds - our secret had to come out eventually.)

We all agreed our least favourite place was Carnarvon, but that was never really meant to be a destination and you have to take the good with the bad, its all part of the experience.

We packed up this morning with a damp van, we were lucky to escape with it just damp as it poured almost as soon as we shut the lid on it.  It was a fairly wet trip - I drove first - express to Bathurst.  Much harder driving than we've done for weeks, you actually had to drive, none of this point and shoot that we've gotten so used too.  The exceptionally wet weather made the trip a little more interesting as with so much weight on the back the steering is very light on the front making the car skate in the puddles - we definatly will be investing in some sway bars before we tackle another trip.

We were hoping to finish the Skate across Australia tour with the last stop being at Bathurst back where it all began however it was too wet to skate so back on the Warriewood Express Bus with Dave as driver and off we went.

We thought we'd try the Bells Line Rd on the way through the mountains - we'd never done it before and doing it in the rain with a fairly fully laden van was probably not the smartest thing we've ever done - for those that have never driven it it is very steep with lots of hairpin bends and the visibility going up and down the mountains was very poor today.  Kept Dave on his toes and he did an exceptional job. 

We stopped at Bilpin at the Fruit Bowl for a very quick lunch before back in again headed for home.  The trip seemed to take forever, some days the kilometres ticked over quickly but today they really seemed to drag.

We arrived home at 3:30pm and it was great to see some familiar faces driving up and down the street.  We are also lucky to have such fabulous neighbours, we have already been spoilt with freshly baked cake and biscuits (thanks Ruth!!!)

It is very strange to be back home again, everything feels super sized.  To have hot running water, water that you can drink straight from the tap and a toilet that you don't have to go outside to use or share with anyone else feels incredibly luxurious.

We have our best mate - Archie back with us again now too and he also has had a great holiday.

This afternoon has been spent unpacking and trying to find places to put the bucket load of shells I have brought home for all over the west coast - what was I thinking!!

To wrap things up... This break hasn't been a holiday, its been a family adventure, its been so much more than I ever dreamed and hoped it would be in so many ways that are just impossible to put into words.  We are so much tighter as a family unit, we have seen the best and the worst of people and have grown closer as a result.  We have seen and experienced so much that our great country has to offer and it has just made us so much hungrier to see more.  We had our fair share of rough days in the beginning as we were adjusting to spending so much time together in the small living space that we've called home but everyone has managed to find a way to get on and I can defiantly say we are so much better for it and have come back bonded not busted.  Tom's words to me tonight on going to bed said it all "Thanks for taking me all the way out there Mum it was brilliant".

Now for those of you that like the stats...

Kilometres driven today = 492

Our total kilometres driven 14901

Total litres of petrol used 2020.28

Most expensive petrol - Nullarbor Roadhouse - $1.959

Number of skate parks skated on Skate Across Australia Tour - 16

Would I do it again - in a heartbeat - highly recommend it to anyone!!!!!!

Just one more sleep...

We survived our last night in Broken Hill, nothing more was stolen however Dave did sleep in his boardshorts with his wallet in his pocket.  We also swapped sides so he was closest if anyone did try and come back...

Packed up and on the road by 8am but forgot that we had yet another time change, wasn't too far down the road and we had to put our clocks forward again another 30 mins, finally we were back on NSW time.

Today was a total driving day, no sightseeing, just our sights set on home.  Dave drove first, it was very wet and difficult to see at times, the road trains throw so much water as they pass in these conditions.  We swapped regularly and made it to Meadow Glen for lunch - this was supposed to be our overnight stop - clearly the distances that we are now able to travel comfortably have changed somewhat from when we did our original planning.

Today we have seen so many emus - well over 100, we have been totally amazed by how many are out there.  There have been lots of goats too - thousands of them also.  We saw a couple of beautiful wedge tailed eagles, I have a new love in my life with these fellas, they are so big and so graceful, they hardly have to flap their wings and off they go, the way they soar and swoop they really are the kings of the sky.  They are to the sky what a shark is to the ocean.

I was very excited as we were coming into Trangie this evening there was a tortoise by the side of the road, I'm scared for him that he's not going to last too much longer as he was moving very slowly towards the busy road.  There was no where to pull over to help him or photograph him but it was so nice to see him - he seemed a little out of place all the way out here.

So tonight we are staying at Trangie at the Tandara Caravan Park.  Its very basic but only cost $30 a night so can't complain and the bathrooms are the ensuite style that I love!!  Anyway we will be gone by 8 at the latest in the morning so we don't need much. 

Trangie is about 80kms short of Dubbo, tomorrow we have just a small drive - only 478kms left and we'll be home.  Kids wanted us to go all the way today, something my father did with me when I was a kid - we drove home from Broken Hill in one go 1250kms - I can see now why he did it we are at that point now where we just want to get there.

There has been heaps of rain out here over the last few days judging by the ground and the size of the puddles.  Fingers crossed the weather man is kind to us enabling us a dry pack up in the morning.

Kms total = 679

Kms travelled overall = 14,408

Dirty Rotten Thief

Woke up this morning and Dave went up to the office to rebook us for another night, he opened his wallet to pay and found that all the money he had withdrawn from the bank yesterday (about $350) was missing - his wallet was clean empty, all his cards were still there but not a cent remained.

He came back to the van and on further inspection we discovered that my entire purse had been taken from my bag, thankfully I only had about $20 in it.  We had only left the van unattended (locked though) for a short time in the afternoon while we were all at the pool.

We reported the missing moneys to the office staff and they weren't shy in telling us that this isn't the first time that its happened, its a bit of a regular thing, the guy that does it is known to the police but as he only takes money isn't interested in jewellery, cameras or laptops they can't catch him with anything on him and so therefore he continues to get away with it.  Rumor has it he is Aboriginal and he does his thieving during the night - this makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable as my bag and Dave's wallet were right next to my head - can't believe he could have come in the van whilst we were sleeping, been so close to me and stolen our things, doesn't leave you with a nice feeling that's for sure.

The staff here have been helpful, the gentleman owner took a walk through the bush looking in the spots where he is known to dump purses, bags and jewellery but as we had so much rain last night in the big storm there is a lot of water in the creek and therefore he couldn't find it.

We spent the morning cancelling credit cards, sorting out money since we now had not a cent to our names and making police reports.  Everything today has been done with a heavy heart - its such a shame as in the 8 weeks we've spent on the road this is the first sign of trouble that we've seen or heard of.

Must say though we were very lucky in one sense that the laptop with 8 weeks worth of treasured photos wasn't touched.  Neither was my jewellery really the stuff that was taken is more inconvenience than anything else.

After finishing at the Police Station we headed back to the van for lunch.  Time for a feed and then out for some happier times.

We visited a couple of galleries - Andrea Blundell, she does these great emu and camel paintings.  We bought Tom a t-shirt with the emus on it- they are so cute and as you can see Tom is stoked with his shirt, he hasn't taken it off since!!

From there we visited the Pro Hart Gallery.  We took a wander round looking at the paintings.  To begin with I wasn't very impressed, just a lot of dark pictures and I guess I didn't really understand them and there was only the dragon fly one that I recognised from the TV commercials.

The gallery had lots of different rooms displaying his work and a his big pipe organ that he loved to play and his studio where he painted.

They had a video showing about Pro Hart, his life, his family and his work.  It was through watching this video that we began to be able to make sense of his art work.  The video told of how he worked in the mines and that he hated the work.  He used his artwork to make fun of his bosses and certain happenings around town.  To preserve the identity of the people he was painting about he would paint the faces as shields with cartoonish faces.  Some of the other pictures related to accidents, deaths and things that took place in the mines, to us initially these just looked like dark pictures but when put in context were actually deeply expressive pieces of art. I'm really glad we took the time to watch some of the movie it made the visit to the gallery so much more worthwhile.

From here we headed out to the Living Desert and Sculptures.  We were quite disappointed with these.  We had heard that they were fabulous and really impressive - perhaps it was our mood today or the hot temperatures, I'm not sure but really wouldn't be recommending them to anyone.

The living desert is made up of 12 sculptures that have been designed by artists from all over the world.  They were done during a sculpting symposium where the artists stayed - worked, and camped on site for a period of time until they were completed.  Apparently, the guy who decided the sculptures would be nice - Lawerance Peck had the idea and then asked the wedge tail eagle for guidance who told him to go ahead (really - I think that's a little strange???).  The Broken Bay Council payed for part of it and then they ran out of money and the towns people had to pay $7000 to have them completed.

Many of the etchings into the sandstone weren't overly clear and are fading rapidly with time.  The most impressive sculpture would have to have been this one, the rest were really nothing special.

It was a good place to admire the view over Broken Hill though.

As we were feeling all a little flat decided we'd head back to camp and just hang out at the van for the afternoon.  Dave took the kids to the pool and I chatted to some of our neighbours for a while.

We move on from here tomorrow (thank goodness, really would have liked to have gone earlier after the happenings of last night, not so keen about sleeping tonight and the thought that someone may come back in again looking for more money), 2 more sleeps and we'll be home!!!

"Is that an echidna by the side of the road?"

Kids hit the skate park this morning first thing.  They haven't skated for a while, a lot of the parks we've passed have been very small and they sort of lost interest.  This park was fairly colourful and looked interesting so they were pretty keen to check it out and give it a go.  I stayed behind at the van and since Dave skated too there are no photos, Dave had a stack so the fact that there is no photographic evidence is probably a good thing.

We went for a tour of the Royal Flying Doctor Service this morning.  Yez these guys are amazing and they offer such a fabulous much needed service for the people living in the remote parts of our country.  We saw the planes in the hanger - each plane costs $7 Million and virtually all their money comes through fund raising and donations.  Each trip that they make out to see someone costs $4000 - the service is free and available to anyone that needs it.

The tour consisted seeing the planes, a small museum and of a short movie - they showed some stories of the people that they have helped.  Life in remote outback is just so vastly different to what we take for granted in the City.  Its just so hard to even begin to comprehend. 

They interviewed a guy who had not many teeth left, he was visiting the dentist who only comes to his area once every couple of months (she brings everything with her even the chair).  The guy had had some bad tooth aches in between visits and dealt with the problem himself by removing the troublesome teeth - yep he pulled his own teeth out without anesthetic or anything.  Another example was a guy who had skin cancers he dealt with them himself too - he took a kitchen knife and anything he didn't like the look of he'd cut them out himself as visits from the specialists were few and far between.  There were many stories like this, they ask people to light a fire at the end of the run way (which by the way has to be on their property - approx 1 km is required) so that the pilot can judge wind speed and direction and they also ask that people drive their car up and down the run way a few times before the plane comes in to scare away any animals  that might be in the way.

I really enjoyed the tour and could rabbit on forever about the things that they do.  Having seen first hand just how remote a lot of our country is (and we've stayed relatively close to civilisation really) this service is so needed and very amazing.

We left from here and headed out to Silverton, 22 kms out of Broken Hill.  Silverton is a ghost town there is really nothing there except a few galleries and a pub.  The Mad Max movies were filmed out here in the Pub and surrounding areas.  There were a few other movies and TV ads that were filmed here over the years - Razorback, A town like Alice and others I can't remember.

This is one of the Mad Max cars.

On the way to Silverton Dave pulls the car over off the road quickly and says "I think I just found you your echidna!" I'll just diverge for a sec - on the way back from the Pinnacles at Cervantes we saw a sign warning us that echidnas could be on the road.  On the way back from the Pinnacles I saw one by the side of the road, I quickly called out.  Dave stopped the car, turned it around, drove back and we all hopped out very excited that we were going to see our first echidna in the wild - well it was an echidna but it was very dead and being consumed by magots and flies etc  Ever since then I've been looking and hoping to see a live one.  Sooooo today when he spotted what he thought was an echidna he pulled over, turned around and back we went looking for it.

This is what he saw....

a tuft of grass, still waiting to see my echnidna.

We spent a bit of time in Silverton, had lunch at the Silverton Tea House.  A very old stone building, a house that was built in the 1800s and still standing today and has been converted into a collectors museum and a restaurant.  The food served was real home style country cooking just like your  Grandma would make.  The lady served, cooked etc all on her own and was so friendly - the service was fantastic - just like being served by your Grandma. Very quaint! 

From here we headed out to Umberumberka - just had to find out what existed at a place with a name like that - well all that's out there is the Umberumberka Reservoir - in other words Broken Hill Dam.

There was an amazing amount of water in the dam given how dry the surrounding rivers were and that they expect only 225mm of rain a year.  We've had a couple of showers of rain since we've been here - they don't amount to much and the weather is so hot and dry that the rain is nearly dry before it hits the ground.

On the way back to Broken Hill we saw lots of emus and kangaroos by the side of the road.  A few emus chased the car for a bit - out in the paddock - it was fun to watch though.  But the best surprise of all came when we rounded a corner and this is what we saw by the side of the road - one on either side....

Very exciting, we had seen many signs when we were on the Nullarbor showing that camels were about but we didn't spot any.  We were constantly on the lookout though and then these 2 fellas were having a great feed of grass right by the side of the road! We watched them for a while, they weren't bothered by us, just kept on feeding.

Back to the van after that for the kids to have a swim and just generally hang around and relax.  Hoping for another night like last night - no midgies or mossies and the stars were amazing!! 

Late this afternoon we had a massive storm, you could see it coming the sky turned black and then the lightening and the thunder happened.  We had wind gusts of nearly 70kms per hour. 

The van had a bit of a wobble up as it was buffeted by the wind but it held up really well.  It didn't leak either and we had heaps of rain!!!  Tom being the smartest one in the family sought refuge in the toilet block and had his shower and waited out the worst of it whilst the rest of us hoped it would be over quickly, thankfully it cleared just as quickly as it came and its cooled everything down nicely.

A little bit of culture....

What to post about tonight...we have done nothing today, literally we just spent the day kicking back a lot of it in the van at Broken Hill.  Think we are all a little hung over from our big days drive yesterday and just happy to be out of the car today.

It was a hot night last night but we were soon cooled down with a strong wind and a heavy shower of rain which cleared quickly overnight.  Took it real easy this morning - nice slow breakfast and then did the  house cleaning - couple of loads of washing and a sweep out (not looking forward to the proper house cleaning that will be required when we get home!!!) whilst the kids enjoyed a morning swim in the pool.

The highlight of the day was our trip to the Silver Mint and the Art Gallery - yes we had our yearly dose of culture. Now I'm not an arty person by any means and don't know the first thing about art appreciation but we actually enjoyed wandering around looking at all the piccies.  Now they certainly not the type of paintings that I would hang in my hall way but man their are some talented people out there!!!!!

We took a drive up to the mine, there is a restaurant up there and a mine memorial.  The restaurant would have an awesome view but unfortuantely its closed for renovations at the moment.  This is the one only photo I have taken today - the view of Broken Hill from the mine.

The kids were amazed at the mine memorial - all the names and the causes of death - mine collapse, getting stuck in machinery, heart failure, lead poisining and the ages of the people.  They spent quite a bit of time taking it all in and reading the plaques.  The deaths dated back to the 1800's and through to as recently as 2007.  A great learning experience for them.

Kids spent the afternoon in the pool and then we spend an age talking to our new neighbours - a lovely couple from England who have to be in Perth by Friday, very do-able but no time for sightseeing.

Since we have done so little today we are definatly staying here an extra couple of days - also the weather here is hot and lovely and its yuck and raining at home so there is nothing to rush back for, going to just keep living the dream for a little longer....

Kangaroos and Emus might be cute but they really aren't very smart

Packed up early and made a quick getaway from Venus Bay.  We had been warned about the lack of fences and therefore roaming wild life on the road out of Venus Bay and the road to Wudinna.   

We had only been on the road for 10 mins tops when a group of kangaroos bounded out across the road in front of us.  One wasn't so quick and didn't go with the first lot - he stopped looked at us and then decided to jump out in front of the car - not a very smart move - a vehicle that is moving at 100km an hour weighing approx 1 tonne and towing something else weighing about 1 tonne too, perhaps he should have paid more attention at Kangaroo school where they teach them to cross the road.....today was his (and our) lucky day he survived to find out if the grass really is greener on the other side.

Today was to be a big driving day so we had to pace ourselves.  Dave drove first and did a great job of dodging the early morning wild life - he even managed to miss hitting a group of galahs that were headed straight for the car!!  We stopped at Kimba(half way across Australia - where the Big Galah is) and managed to buy Jade a new pair of thongs - she had a major unrepairable blowout on her other ones we picked up a bargain pair for $7 - its amazing what you find in the outback!!!

I drove from Kimba to Port Augusta and then Dave had the fabulous job of driving us up and over Horrocks Pass.  It was just before Horrocks that we picked our first signs to Sydney - so excited that we had to pose for a photo!!

Horrocks Pass winds up and over the Southern Flinders Ranges, the road is fairly steep and windy but the scenery is impressive.  The mountains are so demanding looking and just what you would picture and imagine in a country and western movie.

Photo was taken from the car so not super impressive but you should get the idea...

Stopped in at Peterborough for lunch - had to stop here as we found a small patch of grass so we sat under the shade of the tree and enjoyed the grass and lunch before moving onto Orrorro.  Here we made a slight detour and looked at the massive red gum tree, it is estimated to be over 500 years old.  Its huge has a circumference of 10.89 metres.

Just whilst we're on trees, I was driving along today and Dave had been quiet for a while and then all of a sudden comments on how different the gum trees are on the road here in South Australia to how different they are on the Nullarbor.  He is even able to tell me that the trees on the Nullarbor basically just have a branch that goes all the way up and then the canopy on the top vs the trees we are seeing today have lots of branches all with leaves and then the canopy on top - so funny the things you notice when you slow right down!!!

We continued along on our drive, stopping and changing drivers regularly and before too long we said goodbye to South Australia and were welcomed back into NSW...

We still have a way to drive yet but its funny just being back in NSW makes us feel so much closer to home, also makes us feel much less hard core so the kids have been worded up if anyone asks we're we are from they are to answer "Sydney, but we've been to Carnarvon!"

Driving into Broken Hill this afternoon we saw heaps of emus - some just walking along by the side of the road, walking along near the train track and some just out in the fields.  Wild goats were also a dime a dozen there were hundreds of them - never even knew that goats were wild animals in Australia until this trip...

We arrived in Broken Hill and checked into the caravan park late this afternoon.  We are staying at Lake View Caravan Park, seems pretty nice - they have what they call grassy sites - a mixture of grass and dirt but its good for a change. 

We picked up some brochures on what there is to do here and have been totally blown away by just how much there is to do and see.  We will more than likely extend our stay by another day. 

The night is hot - still 34 degrees at 9pm and a beautiful sunset - no longer over the water but the colours in the sky are still beautiful...

Just about ready for bed its been a massive day...

Kms today - 770

Kms total - 13495

Sleep-ins and Lazy days....

Woke up this morning to the sound of very light rain on the roof of the van.  Such a lovely sound, the night had been cold so to be snuggled up in bed and listening to the rain was just too good to get up for so we all slept in until nearly 9am.  Up and a lazy breakfast and then the kids took the camera down to the front beach.  They had a great time photographing the pelicans and managed to get some great shots too, these are a sample of their work (there was over 100 photos that they had taken) ...

Packed some lunch and off we went to Elliston for the day, thought we'd take our time and check out all the little roads and beaches along the way.

Pulled into Tahli, there are caves and a beach here and the signs say the caves are geologically impressive...  They were pretty impressive I've got to say.  This one is called Woolshed Cave.  You can walk a fair way in, the path is steep and fairly crumbly and there was a big bee hive on the roof. 

Moved on around further to the Tub, you'll see why its called that in a sec.

Its like a massive sink hole - very impressive.

Once we got to Elliston we took a drive out around the cliffs they have various sculptures dotted along the headland..

The view driving around the cliff face was lovely too.  We stopped at one of the surf breaks and watched a couple of guys surfing.  One guy came off pretty bad and we watched him paddle in - seems like a long paddle out.  The waters here are supposed to be very sharky.  I did see something in the water - not sure if it was a shark or not though.

Headed into Elliston and bought some hot chips to have with our lunch.  The lady who served us grew up in West Pennant Hills.  Its funny where people end up.  Elliston is so tiny and consists of a general store, a pub and a cafe and 2 caravan parks.  We were all very excited we found something resembling grass to sit on for our picnic.  I say resembling as it was mostly full of weeds and very course but the closest we have come to grass for a very long time.  I am really looking forward to walking around barefoot in my backyard and feeling the grass when we get home, its been gravel or shell grit for nearly 2 months now.

Headed back to camp after lunch and Dave decided to pull in and do a spot of 4WDing down to another beach that he had been told about.  The track was very rocky and lots of bushes on either side of the road and down the middle - doesn't look like it gets used very often.  The poor old x-trail handled it all very well, the kids asked for no more dirt roads at the end of it all but though Dave was very brave.

Its been nice to take a slower pace today however we are heading off again in the morning.  There really isn't much to do here - unless your a fisherman or have a boat.  We looked at buying fishing rods (we have them at home just didn't bring them with us) and the cheapest is $110, we would need more than one and then all the bits that go with them so just not worth it for the amount of time we have left here.  People are catching great fish though just off the jetty. 

We have mostly packed everything up this afternoon and are planning on an early get away in the morning (no sleeping in tomorrow) and are hoping to make it all the way to Broken Hill - nearly 800kms - that's a big days driving even for us at the moment.  As per usual we have backup plans - stay at Port Augustra or free camp between Port Augusta and Broken Hill.  Looking forward to some "hot" weather - the breeze here is straight off the southern ocean so its a bit chilly.

Think we're all at the point now of  looking forward to being home in a few days although we just checked the weather in Sydney and it doesn't look so great so perhaps we will delay our return a bit longer....

Chilling on the Eyre Penninsula

Now is the time to stop and smell the roses before we make the last bit dash back home before school.  We travelled from Ceduna to Venus Bay today.  A nice short drive so we treated ourselves to a sleep in this morning - much needed for poor Jadey after her being sick last night.  Stopped in at the shops in town for some supplies (as they would be cheaper at Ceduna than where we were headed - if they were available their at all).  We had had to eat ourselves out of fresh fruit and vegies again as there is another fruit fly inspection stop coming into Ceduna.  Turns out it was a non event, the guy didn't even check us compared to going over, where we had to pop the van, and push out the front bed so he could get in and walk around checking cupboards in comfort!

We took our time this morning pulling into various stops along the way.  Stopped in at Smoky Bay.  It had been recommended to us as a lovely place so we thought we'd check it out.  It was beautiful.  Nothing there but could defiantly be a nice place to stop for a couple of days.  Seems the coast is littered with these sleepy little fishing towns - beautiful clear water, a lovely shade of blue and nothing to do but fish and relax.

Had to stop for a really big train today, at first Dave thought it was the Indian Pacific we were a little excited but no just a training carrying carriage after carriage of what looked like sand.  At least we got to test again that the traffic lights work - as did the drivers horn, he sure got his kicks out of beeping it!!

Dave drove today and wins the award for taking on the biggest road trains of the trip.  This one came with several police escorts and required everyone to get off the road completely so he could drive down the centre of the road.

We arrived around lunch time and checked in at the office, the lady basically told us we could pick where ever we wanted to be and just let her know.  The wind was already starting to pickup - comes in every afternoon so we chose a nice sheltered spot behind the hill.  We are staying at the Venus Bay Waterfront Caravan Park - the only place there is in town.  The water here is bore water with rain water tanks that you can fill a 2l container at a time for use in cooking, drinking etc but you have to boil it first.

The ground is all sand and shell grit - means that your feet don't stay feeling clean for very long.  It will be so nice to see some grass at home again.  Couldn't tell you the last place we saw proper grass.

Went for a drive out to Mt Camel Beach this afternoon.  Pretty spot but very very windy, we might go back tomorrow morning before the wind picks up.

Took a drive around town - there isn't much here - a general store and a cafe.  Dave wanted some honey (we forgot to buy some at Ceduna, a small container of honey was $5.50 and 1 litre of Pineapple Juice was $3.00 -needless to say it all stayed there!)  Found some lovely cliffs and headlands to look at - check out the over hang on the rock in the photo below, its not going to last long!!!

Spent the afternoon just hanging around the van.  So far since leaving home I have finished 4 and half books and amnow working my way through my 5th.  I had a nice long skype call to Mum and Dad and Dave has had a good chat with his Mum too.  Kids have enjoyed just doing nothing and being out of the car.

Yummy BBQ dinner sitting outside and now kicking back - won't be long before bed tonight that's for sure!!

Kms travelled today - 199

Kms travelled total - 12505

I did it, I did it I didn't think I could do it!!!

Tonight we are at Ceduna - the end of the Nullarbor and guess what I drove all the way - I did it!!  I drove the car and the van all the way from Norseman to Ceduna - the full 1200.3 kms.  I played with the road trains and waved back at all the caravan drivers - only killed an eagle (and maybe a magpie today, not sure if he made it out the other side or not) and I did it all myself - and promptly fell asleep on the couch in the van at 6:30pm tonight - yep I was trashed. 

It takes a lot of concentration to drive such a straight road.  Whilst the road is good its not very wide and there is virtually no shoulder which makes passing the mighty kings of the road a bit stressful at times. Not only that its all single lane road, you don't get a break of having a dual carriage way like we are used to when driving on the highway/freeway at home.  I'm so glad I did it though it gives you such a different appreciation for the trip and you really get to feel it a lot more in the drivers seat than as a passenger.

Now enough about that, what else did we do today.

Well we were supposed to stay at Fowlers Bay tonight - we drove in there and we found out how it got its name - its fowl!  There is rotting seaweed all over the beach and it stinks, the wind is blowing onshore so you have the smell blowing at you constantly - really not pleasant. 

Don't you love the rubbish bins behind us - makes a great backdrop!!

This is all the town has going for it - a jetty, there is literally nothing here, actually the photo makes it look nicer than it really is let me promise you.

We had lunch here (and as she was microwaving our frozen pies she mentioned that the health department doesn't let them sell sandwiches anymore - now we're worried!!) anyway it was back in the car for Plan B - Cactus Beach.  We asked at the kiosk what the road into Cactus Beach was like (as we knew already it was unsealed).  The lady assured us it was better than the road into Fowlers Bay (partly unsealed) as it was maintained by Penong and that we would have no problems getting down there with the van.  So off we went.

Well the road was not nice.  Extremely corrugated with big rocks and lots of pot holes - and yep I was driving!!!  At 5kms in Dave suggested we turn around although the road wasn't wide enough to turn around in so we continued on a bit further, at this point it seemed to improve - momentarily and we pushed on and kept going.

We passed a pink lake - weren't expecting that one so that was a nice surprise.

We arrived at Cactus Beach and decided to check out the beach before making a decision as to whether or not to stay.  Camping in the camp ground is very basic and costs $10 per adult per night and $5 per child.  There is no power and no water for drinking but there is bore water for showering. 

The water looked nice enough but there really wasn't much beach, Dave decided that the surf wasn't good enough to risk getting taken by a shark - the waters here are known to be very sharky so we pushed onto Plan C.

Here we are at Ceduna, staying at Shelly Beach Caravan Park.  The park is lovely and I am in heaven with the bathroom situation - you don't have to share - you have your own toilet and shower cubicle just like an ensuite at home.  Water here comes from Port Lincoln 450kms away, just goes to show that even though we have shops, restaurants and supermarkets around us now we are still very remote.

We went for a walk along the very windy Shelly Beach this afternoon, the beach is covered in shells, not ones that are great for collecting but I did souvenir a couple of big scoops of the crushed shell - still looks pretty - so many lovely colours...

Went out to dinner tonight at Ceduna Foreshore - thought the food was pretty good - check the size of Dave's meal - BBQ Pork Ribs...

until Jade came home and has been vomiting her's back - poor kid - perhaps it was the pies????

Went for a walk along the jetty and watched the sunset (this was before Jade got sick)

It was freezing - is this really the middle of summer in the desert?!?!?!?

Finally have finalised our plans - we're off to Venus Bay on the Eyre Peninsula tomorrow for 3 nights and then Broken Hill and home, will be back on Australia Day.

Kms travelled today 404.8

Kms travelled total 12306.6